A heartbreaking snap of a little farm girl clutching a dead lamb has revealed the tragic impact of Australia’s recent drought. Farmers right across Australia have been suffering one of the worst droughts in decades over the last few months.
The heart wrenching image was shared on Facebook alongside a poem, in which the young girl weeps that “Lambs Mum died”. The small girl can be seen cradling the limp lamb on her family farm near Tenterfield, at the border of New South Wales and Queensland.
The moving poem began saying: “Another farmer sighed today, she couldn’t do this anymore, she was tired of the fight, her heart broken and body sore.”
In another verse, the poem says: “The waterholes are empty, the dams broken down and dry, a little girl carries a lamb and she has a little cry.”
Commentators were quick to reply, showing their support for the suffering farmer, with one writing: “Just heartbreaking. Such a tough gig.” Another added: “This is tragic.”
For New South Wales, it has been the worst drought since 1965. Australia’s biggest companies have made much of their own multi-million-dollar corporate donations to provide hay to farmers in need, while Australian music icon John Farnham has pledged to headline a drought relief concert later this year.
At the end of July, the New South Wales government announced an additional $500 million in assistance for drought-affected farmers.
It comes after the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest climate outlook predicted drier than average conditions across most of Australia during September and October, following one of the driest and warmest winters on record. It followed a dry autumn, and before that a dry summer.
“A drier and warmer than average spring would likely mean intensification of the existing drought conditions across parts of eastern Australia and an increase in bushfire potential,” the BOM says in its outlook, released Thursday.